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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – La Salle softball pushed their winning streak to four on Thursday afternoon, shutting out Penn 5-0 at Penn Park. The Explorer pitching combo of Alicia Aughton and Mary Cate Scott stymied the Quaker bats all afternoon, allowing just four hits, while whiffing seven batters over seven scoreless frames.

"This was a game that we wanted to win, but we also wanted to use it to prepare for our double-header Saturday against Dayton," head coach Ron Shoemaker said. "The plan was to use Alicia [Aughton] for two innings, MC for two, and get some of our other pitchers in, but [Scott] was just so dominant I couldn't take her out."

Scott (W, 3-5) had her best outing of the young season in notching her second victory in as many appearances and third win overall. Entering in the third after two scoreless innings by starting pitcher Aughton, Scott allowed only three batters to reach base, while only one Penn runner reached scoring position. She struck out three Quakers over five spotless innings of work, lowering her earned run average to 3.67.

"I felt more confident today than I've been recently so that definitely helped a lot," Scott said. "My change-up was on today and that was really key."

Aughton had a big day in the pitching circle and in the batters box. She got the start, twirling two scoreless frames with four strikeouts. She also stayed hot with the bat as well. She reached base all four times on the day, going 2-for-2 with a towering two-run blast to left center field in the fourth to break a scoreless draw. With the fantastic showing today, Aughton has now collected hits in five of her last six at-bats, including home runs in her past two games. After a slow start, her average now sits at a strong .289 for the year.

Megan Hodgson continued to be a force in the middle of the order for the Explorers. She went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored on the day. She upped her average to .400 for the year.

Suzanne Swanicke (1-3, RBI) and Emily Moran (1-3) had the other hits for the Blue and Gold.

The win continued the Explorers (9-8; 2-0) recent roll of strong play. After struggling to get on track during the season's opening weeks, the Blue and Gold seem to be firing on all cylinders heading into their A-10 road opener against Dayton this weekend. The Explorers have now won eight of their last nine contests, pushing their record above .500 for the first time this season. Today had a little extra meaning, as they were able to extract a bit of revenge over their city rival.

"It feels awesome," Scott said. "They crushed us during an exhibition game in the fall, so to come back today and beat them here is great."

While the Explorers scored the victory, things did not look like they would be all roses during the early portions of the game. Penn (4-10; 0-0 Ivy League) loaded the bases with one out in the home half of the first, as Aughton struggled to find her command. However, she responded in the clutch, fanning the next two batters to get out of the inning unscathed.

Both teams battled in a scoreless draw through the first three frames, before the Explorers would break through in the top of the fourth. After Hodgson reached on an error, Danielle Cullen came into run. She moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Swanicke, while Aughton drove her home with the long-ball to left center.

The Explorers tacked on a run in the sixth. The Blue and Gold loaded the bases on back-to-back singles by Hodgson and Swanicke, while Aughton reached on a walk. Alyssa Bitsimis drove home Hodgson on an RBI groundout to second base.

They added two more insurance runs in the seventh on a ground-rule double from Hodgson and an RBI groundout from Swanicke to cap the scoring. The insurance wouldn't be needed, as Scott retired the final six batters in order to secure the victory.

The Explorers will look to stay perfect in conference play, as they head west for their first road trip of the conference season. They are set to take on the Dayton Flyers for a double-header on Saturday afternoon, with opening pitch of Game 1 set for 12:00 PM.

"Every conference game is life and death," Shoemaker remarked. "We're going to go out there and compete as hard as we can."